Chained Hearts
by ShiningCrobat
Summary: A boy with no visible emotions, a Koopa, and a young man with misplaced memories are tossed together. What is the history they hide? Will they be pursued by the Unchained*based on Namine* organization? Can they ever find home? ***** ON HIATUS *****
1. Prologue: Tennis

Prologue: Tennis

Far off on the horizon Makoto could see the pallet of oranges and royal purples overtaking the calm blues; it was sunset and no one had arrived. Still, the boy was told that he would be meeting a new doubles partner on this court, so on this court his was determined to stay. He looked back to the court, and pushed a few shimmering caramel-colored hairs from his face. A little speck of white dropped over the court. Makoto assumed it was dandruff, dust, something obstructing his view, but it seemed to grow exponentially. White light began to sear Makoto's eyes, but he did not wince; he stared for a full second before closing his eyes.

It was also a second before his eyes flashed open. Everything was the same, excepting that a turtle lay squirming on its shell in the back of the court. Makoto stood up and paced slowly over to the creature. "Oh, hurry, you incompetent Thwomp!" a scraping, high, and effeminate voice called out. Makoto's thin frame wavered left, then right, and his enormous Royal Tennis Academy hoodie flopped about him, but he could not make out the source of the voice. He inched closer to the turtle and looked down, but it was not quite a turtle. Makoto didn't even know how he could see a shell; a sparkling red dress covered the turtle's back. It had matching, stumpy high-heeled shoes obnoxiously yellow skin, and long, blond hair to boot. "What are you waiting for?" the turtle-thing screeched. "Help me up!"  
Makoto automatically offered his hand to the creature. When she pulled herself up, she was only about three feet tall. "Where the hell am I?" the wee thing whispered out into the twilight.

"The Royal Tennis Academy," came another automatic response from Makoto. His voice seemed to disappear as quickly as it came, and without noticeable inflection.  
"Oh, another one of Mario's mindless drones no doubt!" the other thing hissed.

"Mario?" Makoto coolly questioned the wind.

"Well, you certainly can't be someone's minion if you don't even know him," the turtle-girl speculated. After a few moments Makoto began to walk away, and she followed along. "You look young enough to be in school. Are you a student of this... 'academy' then?"

"Yes."

"Only what's necessary... Are you sure you're not in association with Mario?"

"Yes."

"I suppose a quick, forthcoming response isn't all that bad... Where are we headed?"

"The headmaster's office," and as soon as the flat voice disappeared, the pair was standing in front of an elegant, aged brick building. "This is the administration office," Makoto offered, anticipating the question.

***

Within five minutes, both human and turtle were sitting in front of a clean mahogany desk, staring at a jolly, balding man with a thick, spiraling mustache and a dull, over-washed brown suit. The receptionist hadn't taken so keenly to the duo. Actually, the only reason they were in to see the headmaster so quickly was that the receptionist had run squealing after catching a glimpse of the visitor.

"Ah, so I see we have a Magikoopa in our presence!" the headmaster offered with a delighted clap.  
"She is my doubles partner?" Makoto flat-lined his superior's enthusiasm.

"Er, no, Kathy was paired with you, but she decided to focus on her singles game this year. She was supposed to come by the court to tell you!" The headmaster poked his finger up in the air.  
"Oh."  
"Well, I suppose disciplinary actions will follow with her, but I can't force her to play with you, Makoto. I suggest that you do your best to reach the Island Open in singles this year."

"I do not play alone."

"Makoto, there's not-" the headmaster began with a pleading, soft smile.  
"Forget about tennis!" the Magikoopa raged as she sprang up in her seat. She began to swing about a silver rod with a dull yellow crescent moon at the end. "Tell me how I can get home!"

"Er, yes, about that..." the headmaster made eye contact with the Magikoopa for a few moments, but she seemed not to understand. "Your name?"  
"Katrina," Katrina spat.

"Yes, Katrina," he smiled oddly at her. "I don't quite know how you've come to this world, but there's only one way back that I know of."

"And that would be?" Katrina strained, as if there were twenty 'e's in 'be'.

"The three winners if the Island Open-"  
"I will be winning this year," Makoto noted while staring out at the stars through the headmaster's window.

"Er, yes, you came very close last year, didn't you, son?"  
"Get back to my ride home!"

"Ahem!" The headmaster adjusted his tie. "Well, there could be only two people going if someone in the doubles pair also wins the singles side..." Katrina's right eye began to twitch. The headmaster hurried, "But, anyway, those winners ride a plane to participate in a competition in the Mushroom Kingdom, though most people believe it's an international tournament in a foreign country."  
"When is the tournament?"

"Summer," Makoto slipped in. "But it is Fall now."

"As if I couldn't tell by the trees! This is the granddaughter of Kammy Koopa you're speaking to here!" Katrina grumbled. "So I can just catch a ride on that plane?"

"Unfortunately, no. Believe me, dear, we've tried to get more people there to root for our champions, but the Mushroom Airline Company says that it already takes an excruciating amount of energy to transport the plane, the crew, and three people back and forth. They won't be prepared to take an extra."  
"But!" Katrina stared wide-eyed at the headmaster. "What if that thing happens where the person wins twice!"

"I could try to make arrangements then, but..."  
"But?"

Makoto saw where the director was going and looked to Katrina. "I do not have a partner, but I will win the Island Open in doubles this year. You will be my partner. You will get back to your home based on your skill."

"I don't know the first thing about tennis, you Dry-Bone heads!"

"I will teach you."

With a heavy sigh, Katrina gripped her hair and shook. "... Fine. I suppose there's nothing else here for me to do in 9 months."

"Normally I wouldn't allow a male and female to room together."

"As if it helped before," Makoto muttered under his breath. The headmaster didn't hear, but Katrina leered at Makoto.

"But given your species, the fact that there is no extra housing, and the amount of work Katrina..."

"Koopa." Katrina had the hang of his odd cues now.

"Koopa will have to go through, I see no problem with allowing you to be roommates. Well, off then youngsters. I'll have your paperwork done by tomorrow afternoon, Miss Katrina." The wiggly mustachioed man waved them off. Makoto soundlessly raised from his seat and guided Katrina to their dormitory.

***

Spring's warm breeze tickled up Makoto's flat stomach as he sat up in bed. He checked the fizzing LED display of the alarm clock on the maple dresser between his and Katrina's beds. It read, "3:00" and the last time Makoto had awoke to check, it had read, "2:00." Makoto peered out the open window and wondered what might force him to sleep for the important upcoming day.

… Perhaps the journal that Katrina had been keeping for the past few months would a bore. Just as silently as he executed all of his actions, Makoto slipped a dresser drawer open and tugged out the diary. Absently, he licked his right thumb, flicked to the first page, and clicked on a small lamp beside him.

***

Week 2

I don't understand how I've gone two weeks without breaking down into writing all of this. I don't even remember how I got here. Sometimes I'm not even sure where to begin. Ugh, I'll start with the myths first! Everyone here thinks that Mario is some sort of hero, some knight in shining armor to a peace-loving princess! No one identifies him as the racist that he is. He stops all over the Goombas, Koopas, Bob-ombs, Bloopers, and even Shy Guys. Oh, sure, he may have befriended a few of them in times past, but it was because Mario threatened them... and used them to overthrow the magnificent Bowser! All Bowser wants is to unite the many races under him. Some people get the misguided notion that he wishes to be some sort of dictator, and that prejudice seems to have passed over into the legends of this world. The nerve!

I don't even know how I'll get back to the Koopa Keep by playing tennis. My singles game is awful; I just don't have the knowledge to cut through those weaklings! My power is astounding compared to theirs though. It seems no one here has mastered broom levitation or any other sort of magic. I suppose I have a bit of an upper hand with my wand being converted into a racket. Doubles is the more realistic route, with my power and Makoto's understanding of the game, but I worry that we're never in sync. He never tells me anything personal; he always has his monosyllabic answers. He's 17 years old! You'd think they'd take a break from the courts and teach some vocabulary at this school. Don't get me started on his dress either. He's always wearing that ridiculous hoodie and light blue jeans that cover up his shoes! How can that baggy attire be appropriate for tennis of all sports?!

***

In the margins, Katrina had made a surprisingly accurate sketch of Makoto, flat face and all. Makoto passed his hand over the picture to see if he would feel himself, but it was just rough paper. There was also a more cartoon-like doodle of an enormous shelled being with a crown stomping on a short man in overalls. Not having been bored to dreamland yet, Makoto passed the pages to the latest entry, right in the middle of the notebook.

***

Week 32

Singles games are actually going decently for me. I'm the lowest rank in the varsity class, but I haven't made a challenge to get a higher rank yet. There's no downside for me losing, but I can't bring embarrassment to the Koopa name. I'm trying to work more on the singles game, but Makoto keeps pushing me to challenge the rank 1 team in doubles. We already have a seat in the Island Open at rank 2 and we breezed pass the previous rank 2s. I don't understand why he would want to risk our reputations! That boy still hasn't told me anything about himself. I still swear he's one of Mario's little spies. Ack, in any case, I've chosen to appease him. We make our …

***

Makoto closed the book, slid it back into its drawer, and lay face up on his bed. He tried to force a smug smile as he drifted off.

***

While it dried, Makoto's stuck-out tongue could just barely pick out salt in the oppressive waves of air. "Hnuh" he chortled as he waved about his racket.  
Katrina spun around at the unfamiliar noise and noticed Makoto was, for once, grinning from ear to ear. "Lord Koopa!" she exclaimed, "What finally has you happy?"  
"My heart is on this court," Makoto explained, hushed and wistfully.

Katrina opened her mouth to remark at the odd statement, but decided to hold back. "Aren't you the least bit worried that our last opponents are the girls who beat us at the academy?"  
"We know their moves now... and you can break their telekineses power shots with magic."

"They never thought to write in rules against magic..." Katrina cackled. Katrina's eyes suddenly bulged and she screamed, "Reflect!" Sky blue capsules surrounded the doubles pair. What seemed like two transparent clocks raced toward them, but the bubbles bounced them away. Katrina spun her head around to meet eyes with Makoto. His smile had disappeared. "Do you hear that chanting?"

"Yes. 'Stopga. Stopga.' Why are they chanting?" He hadn't panicked a bit.

"It's a spell!" Katrina squealed. "Some group trying to halt everyone's movement in the entire stadium!" Indeed, Katrina saw it. Thousands of humans were caught in mid scream for their favorite tennis stars. Birds were frozen in mid air in their attempts to steal some kernels of salty popcorn. Even dust particles from the cleaning machines on the court were staying in place. It was as if Makoto and Katrina were walking through the most colorful and busy photograph imagined.

Katrina felt a hand grip her shoulder, spun around, and nearly smacked her tennis racket wand right into a young man's groin. He was about a foot taller than Makoto, 6'3", by Katrina's estimates. His hair was a pitch black and cut into a modest fauxhawk. His leather jacket and sneakers matched his hair perfectly, but he wore a pearly white wife-beater under the jacket, and jeans even lighter than Makoto's. Though Katrina would never fall for a human, she had to admit that this male had a strong build and an appealing face. Still, the appealing faces were those one could trust least. "What do you want?" Katrina barked.

"Oh, I just noticed that you were able to Reflect this too," the guy offered with a grin. "Hey, my name's Kyo. So I guess you know magic too."

"I'm surprised that anyone on this would knows that magic exists," Katrina replied as she turned to face Makoto, but her eyes kept fixed on the newcomer. She deliberated in her had for a moment before deciding to say, "I'm Katrina Koopa, granddaughter of the talented Kammy Koopa... This is Makoto."

"Ah, yea, I know all about you guys! I wouldn't be at this tournament otherwise!" Kyo shifted his attention over to Makoto, even widening his grin for a moment. "I actually heard that you were quite the lady charmer," he said with a crackling, embarrassed tone, but without blushing. Hoping to give the kid's hair a small ruffle, Kyo reached out, but just before his hand made contact, Makoto fell backwards.  
"What did you do?" screamed Katrina while she rushed to her companion's side. "He's my only ticket home! I didn't get in the singles side!"  
"Odd... I didn't mean to do anything," Kyo shrugged. "My friend has taken the liberty of dispelling those barriers though." Kyo nodded to a man in blue robes in the distance. "Believe me, it's better off for you this way, but we know you're too headstrong to come willingly," he whispered to the flabbergasted Magikoopa as he patted her blond locks.

"You Toa-!" Katrina managed before she was stopped by a sorcerer's spell.


	2. Chapter 1: Combat

Chapter One: Combat

Makoto's eyes blazed open as he awoke from sleep, and none of the heaviness lingered. This sort of instant awakening had been happening for nearly a year, and while Makoto didn't particularly know why, he really didn't care. He felt a bit warmer than usual when he woke up, and as he peered down he noticed that he was in a snug silver one-piece suit made of a soft fabric. A blanket of a similar material slid off of him as he sat up in his bed. Beside him lay the young man he'd met the day before, Kyo.

Kyo awoke without the agility that Makoto had come to posses. He rubbed around his eyes as he sat up, and nearly jumped when he saw Makoto plopped next to him. "How did you get in here?" Kyo whispered in a jovial tone as he ruffled Makoto's mop-top. This time Makoto didn't faint, but a spark carried through his body with enough force to make him shiver. "Hm? How could you be cold in this fabric?..."

"I do not know why I'm here. I fainted. I am not cold," the words were ejected from the teen's lips like a laundry list.

"Take the volume down a bit. Katrina is still asleep. I didn't mean here as in this room though; I meant my bed. You were on the top bunk the last time I checked…" The young man's eyes went hazy and rolled up thoughtfully.

"I apologize. I still do not know," Makoto said softly, but still dully.

"Hm, I suppose one of the senior crew just decided to play a prank on me then." Kyo scratched his scalp and yawned. "Oh, but you wouldn't know about them, I suppose, as you don't even know where you are."

"No."

"You're aboard a Gummi Ship, and a very large one at that. It's made of the only materials that can withstand travel between the universes."

"Between the universes?"

"Yup, completely other existences, and somehow there's this physical, space-like place between it. At least that was how it was explained to me… twice, probably."

"How would you forget something so basic the first time around?"

"Ah, I suppose I'll get around to the nature of this organization then, but I have a lot to explain. Katrina probably knows all of this if she's in a world where universal magic is practiced at all… Ahem, well, to keep it simple, all sentient beings are made of three major components, the physical, the body and the metaphysical, the heart and soul. The heart regulates emotion and character, whereas the soul is consumed with logical and survival processes. When your heart becomes consumed with darkness, if your character is evil enough, you run the risk of separating the three, with soul and body becoming one awful creature, a Nobody, and your dark heart would take physical form as a Heartless."

"I am nothing but a human. How does this concern me?"

"Don't be so sure. Some people's three elements are strong enough to retain the shape of their bodies as they separate. Anyway, sometimes the separation isn't so clean, or a heart doesn't go away into darkness, or a hefty portion of the soul might be removed… a million different things could happen. In these cases, memories, which usually link hearts like chains, become attached to the body or soul, or a million other things, but some Nobodies, Heartless, things in-between, and even the Rejoined sometimes gain the ability to manipulate memory."

"Rejoined... people who's heart, body, and soul come back together? And how can these people manipulate memory? Do they have a special name too?"

"Hey, you're a really fast learner kiddo! Yea, we're called the Unchained. There are three basic powers that most Unchained have, the ability to destroy and dilute memory, the ability to create and strengthen memory, and the ability to give memory physical form. Some people have... other powers, or all three of the common types, and more."

"So why do they want me?"

"You're an Unchained of course! I was told that you can make things from memories, and that Katrina over there," Kyo nodded to another bed across sparkling clean, white-walled room, "can decimate memory. I can strengthen memory."

Without warning, Katrina, wearing the same shimmering silver outfit, lashed out from her bed and toward Kyo, who in turn intercepted her with one hand and held her above his head. "Ack! I'm nothing like you, you Wiggler!" She thrashed about in Kyo's palm as he yawned.

"Oh, relax. They would have captured you if I had been there or not. This way we just don't have to eat gruel this morning."

***

Katrina and Makoto sat across from Kyo in a large mess hall with walls and benches made of the same white material as the bedroom they awoke in. The Koopa and the detached teen set down saucers full of a bubbling forest green goo while Kyo laid out a a pan pizza pie laden with grease, water lacking any sort of murk, and a plate of what appeared to be some sort of pudding. Kyo began to hand a slice of pizza to Makoto, but Makoto brushed it away. Makoto's hand spasmed, knocking the food into Katrina's slop. "I think my own food has more nutritional value."

"Er, okay then..." Kyo tilted his head to the side as he pulled up a spoonful of the pudding-esque substance to his lips.

Just as the silverware was about to part them, Katrina burst in, "So why do you get such amazing food, huh?" and cast her evil glare upon Kyo.

His spoon fell into his pudding and his eyes widened. "Eh... eheheh. Who knew so much resentment could be contained in such small eyes?!" The glare lasted three more seconds before Kyo said, "I get more because I was on the mission to recruit you two. You see, anyone can live here for free, but there are.. ah... certain perks if you help run anything or go on missions."

Katrina picked her soggy slice of pie from her soup and nibbled on it. "So who runs this operation?"

"Well, the most powerful of us... and the Finders." Kyo began to stir his dessert with his spoon lazily.

"Finders?" Katrina flipped hair out of her face.

"People who cannot manipulate the chains of memory, but who can see them all... and trace them to more Unchained. What an unfitting name if they can find us through those chains. Then again, a Nobody is a somebody, and a Heartless is only so because it is a heart."

"Oh, stop your bellyaching!" Katrina spat. "Why do you want to give us this food if you have to work for it?"

"Oh, you're my teammates. Finders and other leaders decided that teams should be made of a physical powerhouse, a mage, and a well-rounded member. The well-rounded member is usually a Summoner like Makoto, and the other two are a Repression and a Reminder."

"I'm not working for these kidnappers!" Katrina slammed her fist into her saucer, causing a rattle that drew stares from all of the blinking, bugling, and squinting eyes in the cafeteria.

Makoto, in a hushed tone, stated, "Her goal is to return to her world. Even if she finds it, these people will drag her back. My goal is to win the Island Open. Our goals cannot be accomplished on this ship. We must return to my world."

Kyo waited for the eyes to divert back to their meals before he spoke up again, "Dear Katrina, you really do need to learn to restrain yourself. If you stay quiet, I might be able to get us a small Gummi Craft out of this place." Katrina's eyes light up like an exploding Bob-Omb until Kyo added, "I can't be sure that the nav chip in that ship will have recorded the way back to Makoto's planet though. We'd still be going hit and miss at worlds, but you wouldn't have Finders breathing down your neck."

"I am going to exercise now," Makoto butted into the conspiracy.

"Forget that," chortled Kyo, "Get into the combat training room. Make sure to ask for a pack of cards at the desk before you go in. Whoever's there should be able to tell ya' what your ability is about." Makoto left a completely clean dish as he soundlessly sulked off. "And meet back at our room at 1230!" Kyo called after him.

***

At the reception desk sitting before a door marked, 'COMBAT' Makoto encountered what appeared to be an animatronic bear plush with a ridiculous red nose, a similarly colored ball bouncing by a tether right over its head, and small purple bat wings that were probably nonfunctional. "I was told to receive cards at this location," Makoto stated while staring at the pom.

"Ah, you must be a new Summoner then, kupo! I honestly don't know what people were thinking when they make these names, kupo... You can do much more than summon, kupo."

"They are only names," Makoto shrugged. "Then you are the one who will give me the cards and explain them."

"Yes, yes, kupo!" the stuffed animal replied gleefully. Suddenly, a pile of cards with red backgrounds appeared in its hands. "These are attack cards, kupo. They turn into physical weapons when activated." The card disappeared and a short dagger appeared in it's place and it sliced through the air once before it vanished. "Kupopo! They all vanish after use!"

"You forgot to say kupo twice."

"Ack, kupo!... Oh, I keep forgetting there are no other Moogles around this place." The Moogle's voice went from high pitched and inviting to soothingly deep. "Anyway, the next type of cards are magic, but they can only imitate universal magicks."

"This is the second time I've heard this. What is universal magic?"

"Universal magic is the standard magic used in most worlds, however, some people were able to rewrite their worlds' rules... Universal magic may or may not work in some of them. It's really rather annoying. In any case, if you use multiple magic cards of the same type at the same type, they become stronger." One card popped out of existence in the furball's hands, and a minuscule cube of ice dropped down a few feet away. A few cards disappeared from the palm, and an ice sculpture in the Moogle's image dropped right over the ice cube. "Er, of course, the strength is also determined by how strong your own magical ability is... but you can't really chain together more than three cards... or four if you get really good."

"Can combinations be made with more than magic?"

"Almost any combinations of cards can be made, but they won't do anything special unless you influence them to... In an emotional pinch you may make up a new move."

"I don't know that it could happen then," the queer youth whispered to himself.

"Ah, are you a Nobody then?" The Moogle's red pom bobbled from side to side. "Lost your heart?"

"Not that I know of," Makoto shrugged.

"Hm, yes, you lack the personality to be one of them," the plush spoke while rubbing his furred chin. "In any case, I'll teach you of the faux-summons that we Summoners are capable of." The Moogle held a card to Makoto's face, and it featured a slime green anthropomorphic lizard hunched over in an autumn brown cloak and holding a lantern and sparkling dirk. It vanished, and in the hazy distance behind the furry bear-bat the same lizard appeared, made a devastating strike at the air, and disappeared himself. "We can also create cards based on the fighting memories of past allies to aid us, if only for a moment in battle…" The Moogle's eyes began to shake and water. "I know you can't understand without a heart, but… th th-at was a fallen comrade." The little critter took in a deep breath, sighed, and shook his head.

Makoto simply nodded his head blankly.

"Ah-and-ah, the last thing you need to know. It's rather important, but you won't be able to use it in this training session. If you have partners in battle, you may notice green cards fall on the battlefield. Pick them up as quickly as possible. If you use one, you'll be able to control your partner for a short time, and you'll exponentially increase their power. Should you leave it, it will vanish with out going into your deck. The only problems with this technique is that you cannot control yourself; you're vulnerable, and if you do not know your partner well enough, even your extra power will not make up for the costs of using this. That's why there are teams of three; one partner protects the Summoner while the other is linked. That's why the upper crew makes pairs of Unchained that have been in combat with one another before."

"Apparently tennis is combat," Makoto blurted. He took a stack of cards from the table the Moogle stood upon and wandered wordlessly toward his training.

***

Kyo lay in his bed, tossing up and down a silver ball. "So what's up with that Makoto kid? I mean, he obviously doesn't have a heart, but usually Nobodies can at least fake emotion."

"I don't particularly know and I don't particularly care. The thought crossed my mind, but it never really interfered with me getting home." Katrina muttered as she waved about the metal rod Kyo had given to her as a wand.

"Now I see why you two got along so well." Kyo laughed. Katrina growled, pounced upon Kyo and grabbed a lump of his little locks. "Oh you're not without a heart, but you are 'heartless', and teetering on the edge of dar-." Kyo grabbed a hold of Katrina and stroked her hair. "I miss..." his eyes glazed. He froze for a few moments before coming to and peering around. The awkward gaze stopped at Katrina, and Kyo softly blurted, "kness."

With the elegance of a stupefied Goomba, the disgruntled Magikoopa popped from Kyo's now limp limb. "What in the deep bowels of Bowser's Castle was that?" she demanded an answer for the disturbing moment.

"Hm? I was just telling you that you should watch out. Becoming a Heartless, and perhaps a Nobody... it devastates the heart and leaves body and soul without meaning," Kyo explained, his eyes reddening and beginning to water.

"What?! Not that! You paused in the middle of your sentence and... and you!" Katrina brushed back her hair.

"Oh, that... I try to see the psychologists on board, but they're not quite sure why I do it yet. The metaphysicists say that my heart and soul are too clouded with memory that my body cannot access, and to wait it out until the memories shift."

"I've never read of anything like _that_," Katrina mumbled as she made a disgusted face.

Roars of laughter emptied from Kyo's throat. "I venture that you spent more time studying magicks than metaphysics, and given your state I doubt that psychology was very popular in your universe."

After a period of silence and shuffles, the two laughed together quietly.

***

Shiftily a shadow spiked up through the floor, but Makoto sliced it in half with a blade shaped suspiciously like a key. The weapon also appeared when Makoto performed magic. Once in a while his tennis racket would pop up for magic, but it failed to appear more and more often as Makoto realized its limited potential. Suddenly the room faded from a hazy rain forest back into a silvery cube. Scrolling text across the wall alerted the silent teen that his training session was over and informed him of the time. While he could have gone at it for much longer, he decided to leave; it was nearly noon and it would be best for him to examine the ship a bit more if they wanted to escape it.

As Makoto exited he noticed a queue of eager combatants lined out in front of the training entrance. One grabbed the boy by the shoulder and grinned from floppy ear to floppy, furry ear. It snorted crudely, but genially, with it's brown snout before praising, " Oi boy! Good job in dere. Oo-sually people are beggin' fer ass-istance after ten minutes in dere. Yeh did sure did well lad!"

"Thank you," Makoto said as he expertly swung out of it's grip and under it's lance.

"Er, g'bye then lad..." it said as it walked forward in line and its silver armor clattered. Makoto sauntered away as if absolutely nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. He was finding none of the equipment in the ship out of the ordinary either. There was a short moment where he wondered why he was able to use everything intuitively, but he'd figured that he was just used to such things from operating tennis practice rooms after hours for his and Katrina's practice.

A breathless Katrina ran right into the boy's leg and his eye twitched at the physical pain. "Hello," Makoto said as he looked to the nearest clock. "It seems that I have missed our rendezvous. Apologies."

"Never mind! We're going to get on the flight for the next missio-"

"That is a highly illogical plan. The weaponry that the ships going on the following mission have is vastly inferior to those of the higher ends of the ship. In addition, if we flee on the mission, it will be easier for them to locate us. We should instead hijack one of the Finders' ships."  
"You're!... You're insane!"  
"No. Those ships take no damage from the smaller ships; they'd have to sacrifice three or four of the same ships to get us back judging on Kyo's piloting record," Makoto whispered as screens quickly flashed before his eyes. "They would not bother pursuing two unproven members and a good pilot if it took that much effort. They'll just hope to meet us up on another planet when they do a standard sweep. If they tried targeting us with the ship we're on now, everyone would know that someone had stolen a ship, and others would try, even if we fail."

"And how do we grab the thing in the first place?"  
"I can access nearly anything on this database," the calm child spoke with a shrug.  
"Ugh, let me get Kyo."

***

The trio made their way precariously around the ship based on the schematics that Makoto was able to uncover. No turn guided them the wrong way, and they met no resistance by any sort of security. Kyo sweared that at the first restricted portion of the ship that he used to see anthropomorphic, tall, lizard-like guards with enormous tails and even longer heads. Neither Makoto or Katrina had difficulties believing him after the day they had been through. Makoto was even planning on quietly taking down some guards with his newly acquired cards, but he had no such luck, until the last turn.

An extraordinarily tall and slim woman with red hair appeared before them in a ball gown made of the same material that they were wearing. Her sunburst hair fell straight down with bangs that just barely strayed from her eyebrows. Her eyes, gray as twilight, cast the large male and the small Koopa into paralysis while a Keyblade appeared in Makoto's hand.

"Anyone can wield a memory," she said, gazing right through Makoto. "But this memory has status. Remember that." She began to walk away while saying, "Well, hurry along. You don't have long before the others find out what you're doing. I've been wanting a new ship anyway..."

Makoto dragged the dumbfounded duo into the cockpit and booted up all of the systems with ease. "I did not find more information on how to operate these vehicles because you were listed as an excellent pilot. I was not able to retrieve data on my universe or a universe similar to the one Katrina has described to me. I think finding the other information was meant to be easy based on our encounter with that woman. She is a Finder?"

"Yeah, yeah, she really is. I don't really understand why she would be helping us... In any case, I think I know which universe we should stop in first. They know quite a bit about Gummi Ships there; we should be able to make any mods and make a stop for fuel," Kyo grumbled as he started plugging in the coordinates. "Sometimes I wish I could just travel the Corridors of Darkness."

"I was planning to go to a world where there was a recent raid so they would have less of a chance of following us, but your tactic is also sensible." The quick, dully speaking boy took his seat on Kyo's left.

Katrina's face boiled and her eyes watered as she took the seat to his right. "I...I want to go home! Now! Now! NOW-NOW-NOW!" With that threatening bellow, their silver disc of a ship blasted into the interspace.


End file.
